Page 2 of Starting Something

The preacher starts drolling on about the sanctity of marriage and how the woman is supposed to be subservient to the man because that is the way God intended. I just kind of phase out and only come back when I receive a slight jerk on my hand. My betrothed is giving me a look from hell. His intense blue eyes bore into my eyes even under the veil.

"I do."

Then he says the same thing after the preacher speaks yet again, this time to him. Then he is slipping a ring on my finger. It's like a diamond noose being slipped around my neck. I'm given one to slip on his finger and wonder if he is thinking the same thing. Does this feel like a prison to him as well?

He wants offspring, heirs to continue his legacy, and he can't do that by himself. Maybe he's just as trapped by circumstances as I am. Maybe....all thought of having a partnership, a companion in this mess, flies out of my mind as he reaches for me and pulls me close.

"You may now kiss the bride."

He has my veil up before I can stop him and...the look of promised retribution smacks me full in the face. I hear my mother gasp in shock as the man I just married narrows his eyes on me. His mouth lands on mine as he takes my lips with his. His tongue nudges at the seam of my mouth shocking me into opening for him. Then he does the most scandalous thing ever...he pushes his tongue in my mouth.

Chapter Two

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Shephard

This woman standing beside me is not Mary Elizabeth Drayton. I've seen Mary Elizabeth from afar. She looks nothing like the woman I am currently punishing with my kiss. She goes pliant in my arms and for a moment I worry she might have fainted giving people more to gossip about. It takes hardly any time for me to figure out my new little bride is just naturally soft like that.

I finally let her up for air, her lips swollen and wet looking. I hustle us down the aisle and into the carriage. There’s very little time before we won't have enough privacy for me to ask her questions I desperately need to find out. Once I have her inside and help her with her dress I feel my temper start to rise.

Did that damned rat Drayton do this on purpose? Did he switch out the....who even is this? Mary Elizabeth's sister...her cousin? "You are not Mary Elizabeth."

I say the words quietly so they sink in. So it sinks in just how mad I am to be fucked with this way. I take this woman in with her fair skin and her bright red hair piled on top of her head. Her lips are plump and call for me to kiss them again, just to see if they are as soft as I remember them. There is no way this woman is as innocent as Mary Elizabeth. Mary Elizabeth might not have been as innocent considering she mentioned something about being in love with someone else.

"No."

"Would you like to tell me what is going on before I annul this farce of a wedding and send you back to the Draytons?"

"You can't!" She doesn't know me very well does she? Are we even really married? I'll have to check the licenses I saw her sign. I never paid attention to the name she signed - just that it was done and I was one step closer to getting what I have always wanted.

"Can't I?" I can tell by her face that she never thought about me having the power to annul the union.

"Mary was in love with someone else." Her voice is as soft as her body.

"So." She looks shocked that I - or anyone - would be so mean.

"I wasn't marrying her because I loved her. This was never about a union based on love for one another." I swear she goes paler. "I wanted Mary."

"Because you need an heir. Which I am willing to give you." She blushes fiercely and looks away from me. I find myself almost missing that connection with her but also unexpectedly growing hard at her words. Is she really ready for me to place an heir upon her?

"Really?" her eyes fly back to mine at the wolfish way I say the word. This young woman just agreed to take my seed inside of her all to keep her...sister, I'm betting - they would have to be close and love each other very much for this woman to do something like this - from doing it. She's all but sealed her fate as far as I'm concerned.

"Where is Mary Elizabeth?"

"Marrying someone else." She snaps the words back at me as fast as I asked her. It pisses me off. It oddly pisses me off for her more than for me. Her sister, I'm guessing her older sister, let her marry a stranger while she runs off with a man she gets to choose while this young woman signed her life away to me.

We arrive at the big white house and pull up in front of the steps. The wedding party is following right behind us ready for us to mount the stairs and greet them as man and wife. I help her out of the carriage and up the steps lined with our waiting staff. Once at the top I turn us so that we can greet our guests, helping her manage the train of her dress before she trips over it.

"Did the two of you think any of this through or did you just assume I was stupid enough not to ever find out?"

She doesn't say anything which only pisses me off more. How old is she? What was her sister thinking? What was she thinking? I see her family step out of their coach first and by the look her father is shooting her way I can already tell he didn't know about the deception and probably wonders if I'm going to take back the money I gave his family. Her eyes widen when she sees her father's face.

"Did you even realize I could take your virginity, ruin you, and still send you back? Completely ruined!"

She gasps and I feel her go limp beside me. I reach for her before she can fall down the steps and break her neck before our wedding night. If the goal of marrying one of the Draytons was to stop people from gossiping about me then marrying this girl isn't going to do a damn thing to help me with that. If the faces of all the people standing around me watching my little bride swoon in my arms are any indication it just might have the opposite effect.

Chapter Three

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